Why dump phones are still loved by many

For those hooked to smart phones, they probably do not understand why some people, who can painlessly afford a decent smart phone, still carry a humble dump or feature phone. It is inconceivable why millions of people still opt not to use a phone that affords them the convenience of the Internet in their pockets.

It is for a variety of reasons — lower price of the phone, better battery life, enhanced privacy, or a more distraction-free lifestyle. And yes, it turns out that phone companies are still introducing new phones that aren’t smartphones.

Globally, many people still maintain their love for scantily featured phones. A total of 2.07 billion mobile phones were expected to be sold last year. Of these, 1.48 billion were smartphones, which means that 590 million were not smartphones.

That makes them either dumb phones, which don’t do much except make calls and send texts, or feature phones, which do a few more things than dumb phones, but don’t have touchscreens, GPS, or any of the other features that make phones smart.

Buyers of non-smartphones can be divided into three categories. First up is the buyer who’s new to mobile phones.

That includes children in wealthier countries, the 300 million Sub-Saharan Africans expected to buy their first mobile phones in the next decade, plus first-time phone buyers.

The second category of non-smartphone buyers are those who simply don’t want a smartphone. They find it an unnecessary interruption to their life. For reasons best known to themselves, these shoppers would rather not be Facebooking, Tweeting, and consuming content on their phones.

The third group is of people who need a second phone, perhaps one with better battery life for extensive travel, especially to rural areas where electricity is not always assured. Smart phones are battery hogs and you risk running out of juice if you are unable to recharge.

In markets like Kenya, where 3G coverage is far from even and power is in short supply, mobile phone users need a phone that can last a week instead of a day. In the smartphone world, long lasting battery means, lasting more than a day is good, while less than a day is bad. For such people, smartphones across the board score poorly on their battery life.

In such a situation, a dumb phone is a much better choice than a smartphone. However, because connectivity is fast improving, a crop of ever-more-affordable low-end smartphones promises to continue to pull market share from dumb phones and feature phones.

Smartphones are getting bigger, thanks to the Android-driven “phablet” market, followed by the popularity of Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus. This doesn’t favour some situations. For example, women out for a night without pockets or a big purse, still need to make and receive phone calls and text their friends. A tiny dumb phone is just the thing. Many users will choose either a second tiny dumb phone, or replace their giant smartphone.

Because smartphones are packed with sensors that are connected to the Internet all the time and run multiple apps, they’re becoming increasingly insecure. Experts warn users to constantly run anti-malware programs, but few do. The fact is that many smartphone users feel protecting themselves from the many ways they can be violated through their smartphones is beyond their ability.

There’s an overarching sense that smartphones enable unknown companies, governments and criminals to invade privacy at will and there’s really nothing anybody can do about it. Except get rid of the smartphone.

Last year a rash of stories revealed the phone of choice for drug dealers is becoming the Nokia 8210, which is a reliable dumb phone and shields them from being nosed by authorities.

For all these reasons, we will not see the last of dumb phones soon.

Wambugu is an informatics specialist. [email protected]. @samwambugu2